


Regarding the Family Man

by BleedingTypewriter



Series: Regarding Twitter (SFW) [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Drabble, Established Relationship, Keith is Dad Material, Keith is good with kids, Lance is soft for dad-like Keith, M/M, Meet the Family, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:20:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24174250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BleedingTypewriter/pseuds/BleedingTypewriter
Summary: Lance is less than confident when introducing Keith to children. Turns out his fears are unfounded.Part of a series of edited/updated threads from Twitter.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: Regarding Twitter (SFW) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1744792
Comments: 2
Kudos: 152





	Regarding the Family Man

**Author's Note:**

> "Regarding Twitter" is a series of my favourite threads updated, lightly edited, and tagged. All original versions are available on my account [here](https://twitter.com/BleedingType/status/1199399029395709952) (warning: NSFW account). Length and tone varies as Twitter is where I tend to play and explore.

Lance expects Keith to be terrible with children, the way he is with most adults, so he’s a little nervous to introduce him to his family (what with the ever-increasing multitude of nieces, nephews and second cousins).

When they pull up to his family home, they have to park two blocks away. There are no fewer than three minivans in the driveway. “It looks like we’re the last ones,” Lance says. “So...there are probably going to be a lot of kids...”

Keith gives him a blank look. He knows he should have brought up the actual _number_ of humans under the age of 9 before they were walking up. But come on, give him a break, Keith’s been nervous enough already, asking questions about his siblings and his parents in that cute, halting way of his...so sue him if he’d wanted to spare him the knowledge of the mini legion ahead.

Introductions go as smooth as they can, though Keith is a little flustered at the sheer number of names thrown at him. He greets everyone, even the kids, with the same polite hello and handshake.

(He does get on one knee for every kid, though, to look them in the eye. Lance melts every time.)

But it’s nothing compared to a scant hour later when, sitting in the backyard as the children run back and forth in screaming groups, Lance’s little cousin Alicia comes bounding directly into the back of Keith’s chair. “Are you...?” she exclaims excitedly as she picks herself up off the ground and clings to his armrest. “Are you _really_ the paladin of the black lion?!”

Lance expects Keith to freeze up, to look at him in sheer terror, maybe even to push Alicia back with a finger on her nose. He doesn’t expect Keith to lean toward on his knees and smile at her and respond easily, “Yep.”

“And is that how you know cousin Lance?”

“That’s right. Do you know which lion he flew?”

“Blue. But then Red! Red is my favourite!”

Keith doesn’t miss a beat. His smile turns conspiratorial, and he leans in like he has a secret. “Did you know that I flew the red lion first? I took her back from the galra.”

Alicia’s eyes go round. Her little hands grasp at Keith’s t-shirt sleeve. “Come play Voltron with us!”

“Alicia, I think that’s enough,” her mother pipes up from across the circle, and the relieved sag Lance expects in Keith’s shoulders doesn’t come. They bounce with good-natured laughter, instead.

“That’s alright,” he says. “After all, I am _really_ good at Voltron.”

And he takes Alicia by the hand.

And he leads her back into the throng of children.

And for nearly forty minutes, he plays Voltron.

And he _means it._

He doesn’t throw a single self-conscious glance at the group of adults still chatting away; doesn’t hold back or make excuses to stay respectable. He tumbles in the grass and shouts with his “teammates”.

He teaches the older kids their first wobbly cartwheels, and then impresses them with a few flips as they pretend to dodge sentry gunfire.

They make him play Sendak, and he puts up a valiant fight, and when there’s finally an excited enough chorus of, “ _We got you! We got you!_ ” he falls to his knees and twists over in a dead slump that’s practically Shakespearean.

When they’re all called back over for dinner, Lance has no words. Keith offers a little embarrassed smile. “Sorry,” he apologizes, “I can never say no to kids.”

He finds out very quickly that it’s nothing but a plus in Lance’s family’s book.

Lance, though, finds he can do little else for the rest of the evening but observe his boyfriend so he can catch and catalogue it every time he makes a funny face (the one he’d used to play Sendak) at one of the kids to get them to giggle into their little fists.

He brings it up as soon as they’re alone in the guest room, changed into pajamas and settled under the covers. Keith snuggles in to rest on his chest. Lance pulls him in tight; recognizes the position as the one Keith takes when whatever he’s about to say is too much for him to maintain eye contact while saying it.

“I hated the way adults treated me when I was a kid. They’d patronize me, or ignore me, or treat me like some problem...I just never want a kid to feel like they’re not important enough to treat like an equal, is all.”

Lance drops a kiss onto his head and keeps his face buried there, inhaling the smell of the conditioner they share. He’s learned to stop beating himself up for not being able to postulate the ways Keith’s upbringing has affected him, but it still makes him feel a little guilty every time it comes up.

“If I tell you I thought it was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen, are you going to stab me?”

Keith jabs two pointed fingers in between his ribs, but it’s soft enough to tickle and not hurt. He flinches and pulls him closer in retaliation, until their legs are entwined and his arm is caught under Lance’s back in a way he knows very well will have it numb by morning. “How about if I tell you it makes you even more perfect for me? Because it does.”

Keith laughs quietly. “Can we maybe shelve the baby conversation until we’re home?”

He knows it’s a joke, but it does something to Lance’s heart all the same. Keith hears it where he’s pressed against his chest. “Lance?”

“Shut up, I just never thought I’d hear you say the words ‘baby conversation,’ let alone say them as a promissory note, okay? Sue me for going goopy about it.”

(They end up shelving the baby conversation for longer than the time it takes to get home—for a few years, it turns out. But when they finally do have it, Lance is fully expecting Keith’s answer.)

(And sue him, he still goes goopy about it.)


End file.
